In ancient times, in its pre-lunar history, Abkhazia was so overpopulated that cats traveled on the roofs of houses from the seaside to the most distant mountains. Our sea then was fresh and not as large and deep as it is now, and the mountains were low.
Abkhazia was then a large country - the sea went far from the mountains, and in front of it lay the large Apsny Akyaka - the Plain of Abkhazia. This name Apsny Akyak has been preserved among the people to this day. But there is no such plain anymore, is there?
So, in that distant time there lived the good king of Abkhazia, Khait.
For his kindness, the god Antsua sent him a magical deer skin with singing golden hairs. Each hair sang its own song, unlike the others. The magic skin could fulfill any wish of Khait, but for each wish fulfilled, one hair fell out of it.
Having heard about the magic skin, more and more poor people began to turn to Khait with requests for help. And he, the good king, fulfilled their requests with the help of a magic skin.
Time passed. And only one, the last hair remained on the magic skin, then Khait spoke about his desire, and the last hair fell from it. And Chait gathered the people and announced that his time had come, and he would die, but would turn into a good spirit and move to the sea. And he will come ashore in the guise of a white bull, foreshadowing war, or in the guise of a white horse, foreshadowing floods and earthquakes. Khait died and, turning into a good spirit, moved to the sea.
One day, seven years later, a white horse emerged from the abyss onto the shore - and a great misfortune happened: the sea suddenly overflowed its banks and flooded the entire earth. Only the tops of the highest hills, the three mountains of Iartsakhu and the ruins of the palace of Hayit on the hill of Hat were visible above the sea ramparts. Only those who lived in these places survived. And in the heavens a large, non-setting luminary appeared, the size of an aqlat (a grape-harvesting basket), which descended only to the horizon. It later became the moon.
For a long time, the sea either retreated or advanced, either in hitherto unprecedented waves or in small streams, sweeping away everything in its path. Then it gradually calmed down and finally retreated for good.
But the coast remained swampy; in many places impenetrable swamps grew there, where monsters lived. And people did not descend from the high hills for a long time, until a hundred Nart brothers destroyed the sea of monsters on the coast, first from Kubina to Ryuan (Rion), then to the Dardyn (Dardanelles) itself and drained many coastal wooded swamps, overgrown with ferns as large as trees. Only after this did people begin to live by the sea again. And the large plain of Apsny Akyak remained under water.
The sea will still flood the earth, but before that, warning of trouble, the good spirit Khait will again emerge from the abyss onto the shore in the guise of a white horse...
Much time has passed since then, but to this day the name of the good king of ancient Abkhazia, Khait, remains in the popular expression “Hait, abaapsy!” - as an exclamation of appeal, request, appeal. True, then, many years later, some began to take him for an evil spirit, since he only foreshadowed disasters and suffering.
People must remember Khait and must be attentive in order to notice in time a white horse and a white bull emerging from the abyss onto the seashore. Coming ashore, the good spirit takes a few steps to the side, as if showing people where trouble might come from.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru